Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die; The Deep End of Fear Read Online Free PDF

theater."
    He didn't reply.
    "You were in the balcony."
    still he was silent.
    "You acted as if you didn't want to be seen."
    The way he listened and focused on me, as if picking up something I wasn't aware of, made me uncomfortable.
    "What were you doing?" I persisted.
    "tell me your name," he said softly.
    "Jenny. Jenny Baird. You didn't answer my question. What were you doing?"
    He stood up. He was a big guy, over six feet, with broad shoulders. When he walked toward me, I instinctively took a step back. He noticed and stopped.
    "I'm Mike Wilcox."
    My heart gave a little jerk. Liza's guy.
    "Where are you from, Jenny Baird?"
    "New York."
    "City or state?"
    "The city."
    "You don't talk like it," he observed.
    It was true. Mom and Dad's trained voices and their constant coaching of Liza and me had ironed out any trace of a New York accent.
    "We traveled a lot," I told him. "My father kept getting different jobs. But Manhattan is home now."
    "At camp last year we had a girl from Manhattan who had a schooled voice like yours. Her name was Liza Montgomery. Did you know her?"
    I met his eyes steadily. "No. But I've heard about her. She's a hot topic among campers."
    "I bet," he replied with a grimace. "In answer to your question: I was thinking about Liza."
    "Were you close to her?"
    "No. Just friends."
    "But I thought—" I broke off.
    He observed my face shrewdly. "You thought what?"
    "I heard you and Liza Montgomery were in love."
    Check the actor's hands, my father always told us. Mike's face was composed, but his hands tense, his fingers curled. "You're confusing me with Paul."
    "No, Paul was obsessed with her—that's what they said. You were in love." That's what Liza said, I added silently.
    "I think I should know better than they," he replied shortly.
    "Today in the theater, did you hear"—I hesitated, remembering at the last minute that I wasn't supposed to know what Liza's voice sounded like—"voices?"
    "I heard you reciting the lines from Twelfth Night."
    "Anything else?"
    He gazed at me thoughtfully. "Well, Brian came in then."
    "Before that—how long had you been there?"
    "I arrived just before you began to speak."
    Maybe, I thought, but I had heard a rustling noise wel before that.
    "Why?" he asked.
    "Just curious."
    We stared at each other, both of us defiant, each aware that the other person wasn't being candid.
    "Well, I'm headed back to the party."
    "Enjoy it," he said. "I'm going to stay here a little longer."
    "To think about Liza?"
    He nodded. "She was a very talented girl. And a friend," he added.
    Liar, I thought, and strode away.

Chapter 5
    We arrived back at Drama House about eight-thirty that evening. Some of the girls got sodas from a vending machine and holed up in the common room to talk, but I was tired of being someone other than myself, always thinking about how to respond as Jenny Baird, and was glad to escape to my room.
    While I unpacked, I thought about the things that the kids from last year had said about Liza. I didn't like the idea that a creepy guy was obsessed with her. And it bothered me that the guy she had fallen in love with now claimed they were no more than friends. Maybe I remembered Liza's e-mails incorrectly, I thought, then retrieved from my suitcase a folder of notes I had saved. Sitting sideways in the window seat, I pulled my feet up, and began to read.
    Jen—Hi!
    I finally made it here and it's great. I had no idea so many cute guys hung around a nothing—happening place. Lucky for me, there aren't many cute girls.
    But our curfew is unbelievable. I0 P.M.!!! And lights out at I!!! I'm just waking up then. I've got a cool room on the first floor with a window seat (a real window seat! Where's Jane Austen?) and another big window to climb out of. I'll be in at I0:00 and out at I0:05.
    Miss you. Miss you a lot. Love, L
    P.S. Would you look for my silver barrette and mail it to me? It should be in my top drawer, or my jewelry box, or on the bathroom shelf, maybe the